Portions: Exodus 10-13

Then the Lord said to Moses,
"Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart
and the hearts of his officials
so that I may perform
these miraculous signs of Mine among them
that you may tell your children and grandchildren
how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians
and how I performed my signs among them,
and that you may know that I am the Lord."
(Exodus 10:1-2)

Moses and Aaron performed
all these wonders before Pharaoh,
but the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart,
and he would not let the Israelites go out of his country.
(Exodus 11:10)

So the people took their dough
before the yeast was added,
and carried on their shoulders
in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing.
Now the length of time
the Israelite people lived in Egypt
was 430 years, to the very day,
all the Lord's divisions left Egypt.
All the Israelites did
just what the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.
And on that very day
the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt
by their divisions.
(Exodus 12:34, 40, 50)

When Pharaoh let the people go,
God did not lead them on the road
through the Philistine country, though that was shorter.
For God said, "If they face war,
they might change their minds and return to Egypt."
So God led the people around by the desert road
toward the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds).
The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle.
By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud
to guide them on their way
and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light,
so that they could travel by day or night.
Neither the pillar of cloud by day
nor the pillar of fire by night
left its place in front of the people.
(Exodus 13:17-18,21-22)